TIME TO BREAK OUT THE DIATOMACEOUS EARTH:

It's that time of year again. While most people get excited about the first warm days of spring, I'm less thrilled. Sure, warmer spring weather means shorts and soft-serve maple creemees. But it also means the onslaught of bugs. (Remember the old saying "Black flies are worst from Mother's Day to Father's Day?") And while I welcome grasshoppers, centipedes and honeybees, I'm less enthused by some of their cousins. The scariest, of course, is the deer tick.

Spring in the Upper Valley is rife with ticks. This time of year, my backyard is covered in ticks. My dog is covered in ticks. My friends are covered in ticks. Even, my soft-serve ice cream cone with chocolate sprinkles has one black "sprinkle" that actually moves. (BLECH.)

I have no compassion. As far as I'm concerned, ticks are the most no-good, terrible, horrible, worst creatures on Earth. (They are also technically arachnids rather than insects, which make them doubly horrific, in my mind.) Lyme disease has affected friends and family and I'm desperate to keep these disgusting little bloodsuckers at bay. And Lyme is only one of many tick-borne diseases they carry. While I know that some organic oils promise to minimize them, we live in a place where they can't seem to be completely controlled. (I'd love to fill my yard with guinea hens to feast on the bugs, but unfortunately, we're not meant to be a fowl family.)

And so, I do my best to keep the ticks away. I wear high white socks and long khaki pants on walks with my dog. I keep my lawn as short as possible. I try to avoid grassy areas where deer roam. But no matter what, they creep in.

Tweet   @brothersjudd